The 3218 Fire Rescue Ship adds an interesting dimension to any Playmobil Fire Service, though
the raging fire logo on the side is a trifle inappropriate.
The Fo'c'sle has a small table and seating area for the crew to relax when not working the pumps.
The lead fireman in the white helmet steers the ship, while his #2 aims the hose.
A working pump slots neatly into the open rear deck area.
The pump is filled through the cap on the left (removed just for this shot), and the red lever locks in position, closing off the hose.
The pump is then worked 15-20 times to pressurise the chamber.
A wet test found that the pump would spray water for several feet, for 30-40 seconds on one pumping, before the jet started to reduce. There was still water in the reservoir so further pumping was possible.
Overall a reasonable set, but I felt Playmobil has done this set on the cheap. The ship has an unfinished look, due to three factors.
On the 3941 Coastal Rescue boat there is a second wheel in this space. This may be a second steering position, or more likely the controls to work the hoist arm at the rear. Leaving the wheel & its housing out leaves a messy shape. I'd like to have had a special control panel here for the pump.
This is the worst omission. The rear end has two lugs where the hoist arm on set 3941 is located. Here they are just left uncovered and look ugly. Playmobil could have included a tailpiece to clip between these to finish the end of the ship, or included the same winch arm as 3941 but in red, and its omission is not easily remedied.
These two empty slots worried me, until I discovered that on 3941 they house the winch for the anchor cable. No winch or anchor for this ship - why not?
Finally, there are only two klickies to work the boat, which seems tight. One to aim the hose, one to steer the ship, and one to work the pump controls should be the bare minimum, and one more to handle mooring, fending off and general boat duties would be nice. A collector can easily add more figures, but if this were the only set I had in the theme I'd feel slightly cheated.
The 3941 Coastal Rescue boat not only provides fire fighting facilities with a working pump, and has a rear winch arm, anchor & anchor winch, and a second wheel, and has a small inflatable dingy with diver, so as I'd recommend that over this for general purposes if you can still get it. The only advantage this set has is the overall red colour to match the Fire theme.
The missing anchor, anchor winch, and and second wheel panel can be added through spares ordering, as can more klicky crew. The missing read hoist can't.
I'd only give Playmobil 6/10 for this set. Points off the the missing pieces which do exist and could easily have been included, and only providing two figures.
